Nightfright
Nightfright, named Nightmare Moon and Nightmarity when he corrupts Princess Luna and Rarity, respectively, was a malevont, corrupting shadow. He corrupted Princess Luna, turning her into Nightmare Moon, and later did the same to Rarity. History As Nightmare Moon Corrupting Luna Princess Luna is depicted in a series of medieval-like drawings with a narration that says "Two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land", and "The eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger brought out the moon to begin the night." The narration continues: their subjects, the ponies, played in the day but "shunned" the night and slept through it, which, combined with shadowy forces like Nightfright, made the younger alicorn grow bitter, eventually refusing to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. She thought that she could make other ponies feel special about her by making them fear her. Often, Nightfright would decide for her on what to do. The elder sister, Celestia, reluctantly harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony and "banished her permanently in the moon," taking responsibility for both sun and moon, maintaining harmony in Equestria. While on the moon, Luna promised Nightfright and his forces a powerful kingdom. Return Twilight Sparkle reads of a prophecy that states that "on the longest day of the thousandth year the stars will aid in her Mare in the Moon's escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal", though Spike dismisses it as "an old ponies' tale". While composing a letter to Princess Celestia warning her of the danger, an image of Nightmare Moon is reflected in a giant hourglass that Twilight passes by. The day of Nightmare Moon's return is also the thousandth day of the Summer Sun Celebration, so Princess Celestia sends Twilight to oversee the celebration's preparations which are held in Ponyville, and encourages Twilight to "Stop reading those dusty old books" and make some friends. Twilight is lying in her bed, annoyed, checking the clock. Spike enters the room and invites her for a party game. She snaps at him, and he explains it's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration, and that "everypony" has to stay up or they'll miss the raising of the sun. He tries to soothe her and leaves. Twilight mockingly repeats his last sentence, and dramatically complains to herself about all the "ridiculous friend-making." She remembers the few words about the prophecy from the book: Night Mare Moon would return during the longest day of the thousandth year. Twilight assumes that she was sent to Ponyville because Princess Celestia would think the Mare in the Moon is just an "old pony's tale." Just then, Spike barges in again and invites her to watch the sun rise. At the town hall, Pinkie Pie meets up with Spike and Twilight and goes on about how excited she is. Fluttershy's bird choir plays, and the mayor gives a short speech announcing the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration, Near the end of the speech, Twilight nervously watches the moon undergo a transformation. The mayor introduces Princess Celestia, who is mysteriously absent. Rarity announces the princess is gone, and the sound effect of Pinkie Pie's gasp from earlier in the episode is heard. Pinkie Pie yelps when she spots an eerie glowing fog, out of which emerges a dark, swarthy Alicorn, and the crowd gasps. Twilight recognizes the dark figure as Nightmare Moon, making Spike faint. Nightmare Moon addresses the crowd of cowering ponies. Rainbow Dash gets furious and tries to charge at Nightmare Moon, only to be stopped by Applejack grabbing and holding her back by her tail. Pinkie Pie takes Nightmare Moon's question literally and throws out several guesses in rapid succession before getting a cupcake shoved in her mouth by Applejack, still restraining Rainbow Dash. Nightmare Moon continues, confronting Fluttershy and Rarity with accusing questions, which prompt Twilight to answer her. After Twilight reveals Nightmare Moon's name, the crowd gasps and Nightmare Moon tells Twilight she's impressed with her knowledge. She asks Twilight if she also knows why she's here, but Twilight is too scared to answer. The episode ends with Nightmare Moon proclaiming that this will be the ponies' last day, and that the night will last forever. She laughs maniacally with a lightning storm gathering around her, and Twilight realizes that things are about to become worse, "a lot worse." The Mayor commands the royal guards to attack Nightmare Moon, suspecting her of kidnapping Princess Celestia. She repels them with lightning and turns herself into mist before whisking out into the night. Rainbow Dash breaks free of Applejack's hold and pursues the mist, but it's too quick for her and it disappears into the distance. Rainbow Dash sees Twilight running outside, and wonders aloud what she's up to. At the library, Twilight puts Spike to bed and starts frantically looking through the bookshelves for information about the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow Dash flies in and confronts Twilight Sparkle, accusing her of being a spy because she knows about Nightmare Moon. Dash is pulled back by Applejack, who warns her to simmer down. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy join them and they listen to Twilight's explanation of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight admits that she doesn't know what the Elements are, where to find them, or what they do. Pinkie promptly finds a book on the Elements of Harmony which was alphabetically sorted, much to Twilight's embarrassment. Twilight, reading from the book, names the five known elements: kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty, and loyalty. As she names the elements, the camera pans over the pony that will come to represent each element. According to the book, the sixth element is a mystery, and the elements' last known location is in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters in the Everfree Forest. The friends are unaware that Nightmare Moon was eavesdropping the whole time. Twilight Sparkle tries to persuade the other ponies to let her go into the forest alone, but Applejack tells her they won't let "any friend of ours" go into the forest by herself. Walking through the forest, Applejack mentions the forest doesn't "work the same" as those in Equestria. Meanwhile, a purple mist seeps into the cliffside under them. Rainbow Dash tries spooking the other ponies by telling them no pony who has entered the forest has ever come out. Suddenly, the cliff collapses and the purple mist whisks off. Rainbow Dash proudly recalls how she and Fluttershy saved Twilight when an angry manticore bars the path. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash fail to stop the manticore. Fluttershy's quiet protests go unnoticed by her friends, but when they desperately charge at the manticore, Fluttershy finally raises her voice and stops them. She gently approaches the manticore, who, after a moment of hesitation, shows her a purple thorn stuck in its paw. She removes it and wins the beast's affection, and the six ponies continue their journey. When Twilight asks Fluttershy how she knew about the thorn, Fluttershy reveals that she didn't, saying, "Sometimes we all need to be shown a little kindness." The extracted thorn turns into purple mist and snakes between the ponies' hooves before seeping into some trees. The moon sets and darkness surrounds the ponies, who are now faced with monstrous-looking trees that seem to growl at them. They all scream except Pinkie Pie, much to their surprise. She makes funny faces at the trees and starts to laugh. Pinkie Pie sings the Laughter Song, and shows her friends how to conquer your fears through laughter. The other ponies overcome their fears and turn the trees back to normal, concluding the song by rolling on the ground and laughing. The ponies come to a turbulent river. A purple sea serpent, Steven Magnet, is lamenting the loss of half of his mustache, torn off by a "tacky little cloud of purple smoke". Applejack and Rainbow Dash are unsympathetic to his plight, but Rarity is impressed by his looks and cannot leave his mustache in its current state. She yanks off one of his scales, uses it cut the hair of her own tail, and magically attaches it to the torn part of his mustache. Steven is extremely pleased and lets the ponies cross the river by coiling his own body to make stepping stones. Twilight sees the ruins of the castle through the foggy mist and runs towards it, but she almost falls over the edge of a cliff. They see a rope bridge attached to the other side of the gorge, and Rainbow Dash flies down to raise it and tie it to their side. When she lands, a faint voice calls her name and the purple mist slithers underneath her. The voice says they've been expecting the best flyer in Equestria. The Shadowbolts, whose name and appearance are similar to the Wonderbolts, offer the position of Shadowbolt captain to Rainbow Dash. She accepts and asks for a moment to tie the bridge's rope, but The Shadowbolts give her an ultimatum: "It's them or us." Twilight warns Dash not to listen to them, but the fog thickens and muffles Twilight's voice. Dash politely declines and ties the rope. The Shadowbolts turn into purple mist and slither away. Dash returns to her relieved friends, saying "See? I'd never leave my friends hanging." The friends cross the bridge and continue towards the ruins. Defeat The ponies enter the castle ruins and come to five stone orbs on a pedestal, which Twilight Sparkle assumes to be the Elements of Harmony. Dash and Fluttershy fly up to retrieve them and place them carefully at Twilight's hooves. Pinkie notices there are only five of them. Twilight explains that when the five are present, a spark would cause the sixth to be revealed. The rest of the ponies leave the room to give Twilight some quiet as she tries to use her magic on the orbs, but the purple mist appears and envelops them in a whirlwind. Twilight jumps in and disappears with the purple mist. The other ponies, who are too late to save Twilight, see glowing lights in another tower. Meanwhile, Twilight and Nightmare Moon re-appear at opposite ends of a large hall, with the stone orbs placed around Nightmare Moon. Twilight stamps her hoof and they charge at each other. Right before they collide, Twilight teleports and reappears next to the orbs. She tries to create a magic spark, but Nightmare Moon materializes in front of her and blasts her away. For a moment the orbs sparkle and frighten Nightmare Moon, but they soon stop, allowing her to shatter them by stamping on the ground. Nightmare Moon triumphantly declares victory. Twilight Sparkle hears her friends calling for her and something sparks inside her. She confidently declares that the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here. The stone fragments glow and float around each pony as Twilight explains which element each friend represents based on their actions during their journey. The fragments of the orbs float up and start to circle the ponies to which the orbs belong. Nightmare Moon protests, saying they don't have the sixth element, but Twilight tells her a different kind of spark revealed the sixth element: the spark that ignited within her when she realized the five other ponies are her friends. She announces when the elements are ignited with the spark inside everyone, it makes the sixth element: the Element of Magic. A bright ball of magic appears above the friends and the orb fragments of the five friends come together to become jeweled necklaces, while Twilight's orb takes the shape of a crown. The gems glow and the ponies are lifted into the air. A rainbow shaped like a double helix explodes skywards and envelopes a screaming Nightmare Moon. Twilight opens her eyes and floods the room with white light, banishing Nightfright from Luna's body. As the sun rises, Princess Celestia appears and explains that she knew Twilight had the magic to defeat Nightmare Moon, but she could only unleash it by letting true friendship into her heart. They see a smaller Pegasus unicorn that was once Nightmare Moon, and the pieces of her armor around her. She is wearing a dark blue crown and a coat and mane in a lighter shade of violet and blue. Recognizing this strange pony, Celestia approaches her, calling her Luna, and offers her sister the friendship they were meant to have all along. The ponies react with surprise to Celestia calling Luna her sister, even though both books that Twilight consulted earlier mentioned that the royal unicorns were sisters. Luna emotionally accepts Celestia's offer, telling her she missed her dearly. Happy to see her sister again and forgiven for her misdeeds, she embraces Celestia in a joyously tearful reunion. As Nightmarity Twilight Sparkle is having a nightmare. The nightmare's setting is in what appears to be an abandoned village. She screams in horror as shadows reach for her, only to be woken up. She looks at her books while going for a walk; however, none of them has a cure. She is interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who seems to have a lack of sleep. She exclaims that she is having nightmares as well. Apparently, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy are under the same condition. Later that night, Pinkie Pie hosts a slumber party, and the others are still pondering about their nightmares. A few hours after they go to sleep, they experience the nightmares again. In Twilight's dream, she is dismissed from the royal court of Canterlot for eternity; meanwhile, Applejack is dreaming of her family blaming her for loosing their land. Fluttershy dreams of her animals running away from her. Rainbow Dash's dream is of her being rejected by the Wonderbolts. Pinkie's is of none of the ponies being amused by her comedy. Last but not the least, Rarity's nightmare is about her friends rejecting her gifts and bringing attention to a new pony named Maybell. Unlike the others' dreams, Rarity's have dark clouds around them. After this, Rarity is immediately taken away by black smoke to the moon. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy try to stop this. However, they fail. Twilight sends a letter to the Princess by Spike, who immidieatly faints from tears after doing so. Twilight requests to speak to Princess Luna, due to the fact that she controls dreams and was taken over by Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia and Luna head over to where the group is. Princess Luna explains that, although she is not clear on what happened, she knows that dark and evil forces have taken Rarity to the Nightmare Dreamscape. She also explains about Nightfright. Once Luna was brought back to her normal self by The Elements of Harmony, she hoped that these dark forces would disapear; however, they somehow got enough energy from the new moon's cycle, and gain what Nightmare Moon promised them: a powerful kingdom of their own. Alarmed, the Elements of Harmony suggest that they go at once, but Luna stops them by warning them that the dark forces may destroy Ponyville, saying that they will be better off by letting Luna go alone. Celestia replies by saying that the Elements are no ordinary ponies, and that they have defeated evil before. Reluctantly, Luna accepts this. Celestia explains that she can send them to the dreamscape, and that she will protect Ponyville. Luna mentions that she hopes Rarity has bravery;otherwise, the dark forces will take over quickly. Rarity is shown trying to fight off the dark forces, which she is doing somehow unsuccessfully. They surround her once more, which makes Rarity close her eyes. Afterwards, she says "Oh dear, that is definitely a step up. Good show, wooshie things", which indicates that she is starting to be corrupted by them. Defeat